During an NFL owners meeting, Houston Texans owner Bob McNair said the league cannot allow “inmates running the prison” in regard to players’ national anthem protests.According to a report, some owners were “stunned” by the statement.McNair later apologized to NFL executive Troy Vincent, who felt offended by the statement, and issued a public apology on Friday.

Houston Texans owner Bob McNair used a poor choice of words at a recent NFL owners that now has him facing criticism.

After Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones gave a passionate speech about the need to make players stand for the national anthem, McNair said, “We can’t have the inmates running the prison.”

According to ESPN, the statement “stunned” some people in the room.

Though owners continued arguing, later on, NFL executive Troy Vincent, a former player, reportedly called McNair’s statement offensive. According to the report, McNair later took Vincent aside and apologized, saying he felt “terrible” for the comment and only meant to use a popular idiom, not reflect players as “inmates.”

McNair, a multimillion dollar Trump donor, was reportedly one of the owners who, alongside Jones, was in favor of a mandate to make players stand. However, according to ESPN, owners could not come to an agreement on how to proceed over the anthem protests, with only nine owners voting in favor of a hardline stance.